Switch - 14 Sep 2004

Although wireless products eclipsed the tried-and-true wired products in the 2004 Readers' Choice Network Infrastructure Products category, readers' selection of the Linksys 8-Port 10/100 Switch for the Best Switch award demonstrates that traditional wired products still play an important role in corporate networks. The 8-Port 10/100 Switch garnered a healthy 22 percent share of the total vote. The product is enclosed in a compact case and lets you integrate 10Mbps Ethernet and 100Mbps Fast Ethernet devices on your network. Each port independently negotiates for best speed and half- or full-duplex mode (full duplex provides as much as 200Mbps of bandwidth per port). Additional features include fast store-and-forward switching, which prevents damaged packets from being passed on to the network; address learning and aging, which prevent data transfer errors; and data-flow control, which helps prevent packet collisions. All eight ports feature automatic medium dependent interface/medium dependent interface crossover (MDI/MDIX) detection, which lets the switch accommodate both crossover and noncrossover cable types.